Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) has emerged as one of the few Republicans willing to publicly decry former President Donald Trump's lie that the 2020 election was "stolen" by Democrats through widespread election fraud.
The imminent ousting of Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-WY) from her House Republican leadership position has recently demonstrated that a refusal to capitulate to Trump's election conspiracy theories will result in political vulnerabilities and retaliation.
Kinzinger, in comments on Face the Nation, railed against the party's unwillingness to condemn Trump's election lies, which culminated in a deadly failed siege of the Capitol this past January. He warned that the party would be sealing its own fate with continued fealty to its leader, and he used a colorful analogy to do so.
Watch below.
Kinzinger said:
"Right now, it's basically the Titanic. We're in the middle of this slow sink. We have a band playing on the deck, telling everybody it's fine, and meanwhile Donald Trump's running around, trying to find women's clothing and get on the first lifeboat."
One of the most striking images in accounts of the RMS Titanic's sinking in 1912 was the string quartet, who was ordered to play joyful, upbeat music amid the chaos in hopes of keeping passengers calm. There were also rumors of male passengers dressing in women's clothes to cheat their way to safety despite the ship's "women and children first" evacuation policy.
People found Kinzinger's analogy to be apt.
Some thanked Kinzinger for being one of the few Republicans willing to acknowledge basic truths about the 2020 election.
In a tweet the following day, Kinzinger told followers he warned House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) of violence on January 6, only for those warnings to be dismissed.
